Hon. Pat Duncan: Honourable senators, I rise today to express my support for Bill S-253, An Act respecting a national framework for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

I will begin by expressing my sincere thanks to my friend Senator Ravalia, his team and my own staff for their work and efforts on this bill, as well as to my colleagues who have spoken on this initiative before me. They have eloquently covered the impacts and the data showing how severe the challenges are. I’m also grateful, colleagues, for your patience as I have gathered my thoughts to speak.

My understanding of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, FASD, has evolved over the almost 30 years that I have been dealing with this. In 1998, my colleague in opposition, Yukon MLA Sue Edelman, the health critic, gave notice in the Yukon Legislative Assembly of a motion that read in part:

THAT it is the opinion of this House that:

(1) there are no accurate or approximate numbers of Yukoners who suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome or fetal alcohol effects;

(2) fetal alcohol syndrome and fetal alcohol effects are completely preventable if parents do not drink during pregnancy;

(3) there are few if any supports for families and for those who suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome and fetal alcohol effects once they have left the education system — and this is particularly true in rural Yukon . . . .

The motion then called upon the Yukon government to provide support for early intervention and prenatal programs that prevent fetal alcohol syndrome, FAS, and fetal alcohol effects, FAE. In addition, she urged that the government:

. . . allow children who have been affected lead happy, productive lives in our society by being properly prepared for school and by giving their families ways to support these special children, then by examining the gaps in the service to youth and adults . . . by using our resources wisely by coordinating services to persons with fetal alcohol syndrome and fetal alcohol effects, and their families.

As honourable senators can tell, the language has changed since then. FAS and FAE are now FASD, recognizing the wide-ranging symptoms and conditions associated with FASD.

When in government with the opportunity to act upon the motion, I raised this issue at the national level. With the support of then-Alberta premier Ralph Klein and at our Yukon government’s request, the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission conducted a comprehensive review of Yukon’s alcohol and drug addiction services and program delivery. Our government initiatives included taking a more aggressive and proactive approach in the Yukon’s FAS/FAE strategy, one which recognized prevention as the only cure. We continued our work with our southern and western neighbours, initiating the Prairie Northern Conference on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

Honourable senators, a quarter of a century later, I find myself in the same discussions, albeit with changed terminology. Sadly, the statistics, such as we know them, remain the same, continuing or rising in this entirely preventable situation. Politicians, even those with a long history of good work, taking a great deal of time, might have thrown up their hands in despair. Thankfully, we have not and we are not giving up. The bill before us is an example of our commitment.

There has been progress over the past 25 years, and I would like to share some of the improvements we’ve seen. Specifically, in the Yukon, the story of progress is encouraging. In 2019, the Yukon government established the Yukon FASD Action Plan. Progress on the action plan was considerably slowed during the pandemic.

In January 2021, as part of a government-to-government relationship, the Council of Yukon First Nations, or CYFN, hired a coordinator for the FASD action plan. This individual works very closely with the director of the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Society Yukon, FASSY. The director recently provided me with an update on their activities. The FASD action plan committees that have been established so far are awareness, prevention, diagnostic and, of course, the interagency committee. The knowledge exchange committee is anticipated to be developed as things progress. The groups are still looking to put together the family support committee, comprised of those who care for people with FASD, and an evaluation committee will also be established.

FASSY and CYFN will also be putting more pregnancy tests out in the communities and in Whitehorse. They are free of charge and available in bars and in the Yukon University buildings. The Yukon University has established campuses in most locations and communities in the Yukon. Information will also be publicly available in the form of posters at doctors’ offices.

As the CYFN coordinator stated to me, “Blatant advertising will eventually drill the message of abstinence during pregnancy is best.”

Honourable senators, this express message is included in another bill before us, Bill S-254, introduced by our colleague Senator Brazeau. Thank you, Senators Brazeau, Miville-Dechêne and others who have recognized Yukon’s initiatives with regard to warning labels on alcohol. I will leave my further remarks on that issue to another day.

Honourable senators, Yukon was also the first jurisdiction in Canada to respond in a fulsome way to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. The Yukon strategy entitled Changing the Story to Upholding Dignity and Justice: Yukon’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-spirit+ People Strategy from 2020 specifically mentioned FASD:

. . . it will take coordinated efforts to implement this Strategy. Women, girls, and Two-spirit+ individuals living with FASD or other disabilities will be fully included and considered.

The coordinator also shared with me that in the last six months the number of clientele that FASSY has been assisting went from 69 to 84 persons. Her educated guess is that this is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. If they can manage to take the stigma off of FASD and educate people about it, the numbers should only go higher as people are made aware of their services.

Yukon has also dedicated funding — put the money where their mouth is — to FASD. The 2021 budget documents note that the FASSY received close to $800,000 in funding, which included funding to the interagency committee.

Nationally, since these discussions in the Yukon — some more than 20 years ago — the Canada FASD Research Network, CanFASD, begun in 2013, has grown in strength. The network’s initial intention was to increase the amount of FASD research within the provinces and territories of the Canada Northwest FASD Partnership.

The results significantly exceeded strategic goals, and, today, CanFASD operates across Canada. They support all stakeholders, finding innovative and practical ways to help persons with FASD, their families and their caregivers and assisting governments at all levels as well as practitioners and educational institutions in creating and disseminating evidence-based research and knowledge.

Another example of action was noted by our colleague Senator Colin Deacon: the Nova Scotia-based Strongest Families Institute. They offer their support services in the Yukon as well. They are truly a coast-to-coast-to-coast initiative.

Senators, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the volunteer efforts of FASSY and one volunteer in particular: Judy Pakozdy. This person has championed the cause of FASD for years, raising awareness in the Yukon and working with, supporting and showing up for those affected. A clear and direct individual, she has personally paid for newspaper advertising to raise awareness and urged governments to action. The ads were published as we gathered on the ninth day of the ninth month, FASD Awareness Day. She spoke to me at public events in a very clear way. She said, “We don’t need more words. We don’t need more plans. We need money and we need action.”

The bill is the action we in the Senate can provide in response to Judy’s plea. The money? That is not so simple. The Senate does not get to introduce a money item or demand that the government spend money, as we all know.

Today, I want to speak to the action.

The bill before us calls for a national strategy, a framework to coordinate our efforts to fight FASD. As Senator Ravalia, the sponsor, said in his speech to us, it will include measures to standardize guidelines, improve diagnostic and data reporting tools, expand knowledge bases, facilitate information exchanges and increase public and professional awareness, among other things. The bill is our specific action that we here in the Senate can provide in response to Ms. Pakozdy’s plea. Senator Ravalia’s bill is a major step in the right direction, and, perhaps, the longest and strongest step the Senate of Canada could take.

Today, I would like to strongly encourage senators to take this step, to walk together, to support the fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, or FASD, community and call upon the government for a national framework. Thank you. Mahsi’cho. Gùnáłchîsh.